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Cambridgeshire's New Fire Station

Construction work on the first new fire station to be built in Cambridgeshire since 1987 is about to begin.

The new Cambourne community fire station is expected to be up and running in April next year.

A local company, M.A.R.S. Construction Ltd has been awarded the contract to build it on land near Back Lane.

Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service was given the land to build it on for free when development at Cambourne started back in 1994.

Developers who have built houses in Cambourne have also contributed around half a million pounds towards the building of it.

The total cost of the station is expected to be just over a million pounds, so the total cost to the taxpayer for the brand new fire station is around half a million pounds.

The new station will act as a base for the fire service's South Cambridgeshire district team, which specialises in preventing fires in the community and working with businesses to protect staff from fire.

Cambridgeshire's fire service has identified Cambourne as a growing community with an increasing likelihood of fires taking place.

This means that, in future and when Papworth Hospital has moved across to Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, the fire engine that is currently based at Papworth will be moved across to Cambourne.

Graham Stagg, Cambridgeshire's chief fire officer, said: "We know that we will need a fully operational fire station at the site in the future and we will never again get an opportunity to build this station at a cost to taxpayers of just over £500,000.

This will be financed from our existing money from this year’s budget.

It is better to have the station in place now at low cost to the taxpayer, than to have to pay a vastly inflated price for the same facility in the future - especially as we can utilise the building now as part of our wider role in the community."